Triple-A Columbus Clippers (4-1) vs. St. Paul Saints (Minnesota Twins) Not shockingly, the weather wreaked havoc on the Clippers’ opening week schedule. Spring breakout sensation Parker Messick made his Triple-A debut on April 2. He only lasted four innings with his pitch count up to 71, but he li mited St. Paul to three hits and two walks, and recorded two strikeouts. Messick also ran his fastball up to 96 mph, a new high for him. He could be on the radar to help in the majors later this year. Reliever Andrew Walters missed time in spring training with shoulder stiffness and ended up on the Triple-A roster to start the year to build some innings back up while Triston McKenzie and Joey Cantillo add length to the Guardians’ pitching staff. Walters has racked up three outings so far this year 2 2/3 innings, four strikeouts, three walks and a hit. He’s touched up to 97 with his fastball, and has showed no issues with his shoulder so far. Andrew Walters was electric in his first Triple-A outing of the 2025 regular season. 95-97, getting 18-20 inches of IVB on the fastball and showed off a good slider. No signs here of the shoulder issue he was dealing with early in spring.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/sdAxj0ZBwh — Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) April 1, 2025 Lefty Doug Nikhazy opened the season back on March 28 and allowed two runs in 3 2/3 innings, five hits, walked one and struck out five. Two players who didn’t win jobs on the major-league roster to start the year, Juan Brito and Angel Martinez, are off to good starts. Brito has played mostly second base but has also seen time at first base, and has a double, walk and two steals through four games. Martinez has two doubles, three RBI and a steal, including a three-hit game on April 4. Minor league Rule 5 pick and former Angels first-rounder, INF Will Wilson, has also been hot since spring training. He homered, doubled and drove in four runs while playing short, third and some DH. The Clippers will to Worcester (pronounced Wooster, oddly enough) to face the Red Sox (Boston) next week. Double-A Akron RubberDucks (3-0) at Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants) It didn’t take long for the Buzz for (Travis) Bazzana to reach fever pitch. The 2024 first overall pick reached based four times on opening night with a double, two walks and two steals. He followed that with three more hits, including a double and homer, on April 5. Bazzana fell just a triple short of the cycle. The angle Travis Bazzana is able to get his barrel at on this pitch and pull it for that much power is really impressive. Great ability to match plane. pic.twitter.com/sUi5aDn0vn — Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) April 5, 2025 First Double-A homer for Travis Bazzana and it's an opposite field laser.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/fNctqc2BSG — Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) April 5, 2025 The Akron lineup will likely have a lot of headlines early on this season on the offensive side with several notable prospects. First base prospect CJ Kayfus had a productive first weekend and picked up where he left off in 2024 with four hits including a double, triple, four RBI and two walks. Former Captains outfielder Jorge Burgos added four hits over the weekend, and three of them were homers with seven RBI, showing good power again this year, a little more consistent to start the year. The most power coming from Akron so far is actually Jorge Burgos. No cheapie here. Three games, three homers. pic.twitter.com/ONq6O2aw2o — Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) April 6, 2025 Austin Peterson was only allowed to throw 49 pitches in his first start on April 5, but only allowed a hit and four strikeouts in that outing, while pushing his fastball velocity to 93-95, up from 90-92 a year ago. RHP (Akron) Austin Peterson: Held to 49 pitches in his first start, but got chases on the slider, whiffs in the zone on the curve and spotted his heater, which sat 93-95 pic.twitter.com/PhOzu8VTal — Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) April 6, 2025 Tommy Mace got the opening night assignment and allowed just a run in five innings, though he did walk four and struck out four. Cleveland fans will get their first in-person look at Bazzana as a RubberDuck starting April 8, as they host the Curve (Altoona – Pittsburgh). High-A Lake County Captains (2-1) at Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles Dodgers) Lake County won its last game of 2024 and its first game of 2025, and it was newcomer, third baseman Juan Benjamin, who led the offensive charge with two hits and two walks. He totaled three hits over the first weekend and added two steals. Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson drew the opening night assignment and only lasted three innings in his first outing but struck out five on three hits and three walks and only one unearned run crossed the plate on his watch. His fastball continued to sit 89-90. picking up right where he left off 3 Ks for Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson in his first MiLB inning of 2025! pic.twitter.com/o9RLvhYnIb — Lake County Captains (@LCCaptains) April 4, 2025 First baseman Ralphy Velazquez wasn’t overeager to earn his first hit of the season on opening night and drew four walks in five plate appearances on April 4. He got on the board with a 432-foot homer on April 6 for his first of the year. Liftoff for Ralphy Velazquez. His first dinger of the year is a 432 shot to right field. pic.twitter.com/dTCSreWNGL — Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) April 6, 2025 Catcher Jacob Cozart worked a pair of walks over the weekend and then also added two doubles in the Captains’ 13-2 rout on April 6. LHP Michael Kennedy came over from Pittsburgh over the offseason in the Spencer Howoritz (Andres Gimenez) trade and made his Guardians system debut on April 5. The lefty allowed two runs on three hits in three innings, with three strikeouts and three walks, showing a 89-92 fastball and a good slider at times. LHP Jackson Humphries, a 2022 draft pick of Cleveland, made his High-A debut on April 6 and walked three but only allowed one hit and a run in three innings, and struck out six. And that’s the end of the first! Jackson Humphries strikes out the side in his High-A debut. pic.twitter.com/ht5qCigdEw — Lake County Captains (@LCCaptains) April 6, 2025 Lake County comes home April 8 to host West Michigan (Detroit Tigers) to open its first homestand of the year. SIngle-A Lynchburg Hillcats (1-1) at. Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Houston Astros) 2024 Comp A round pick Braylon Doughty got the opening day assignment for Lynchburg, straight out of high school. In his first pro start, the California right-hander went three innings and allowed two runs on five hits, but struck out six. A pair of fielding miscues plagued him in the first inning, but he rebounded to strike out the side in the first order. Doughty’s fastball was 93-95 with life in the zone and showed two good breaking balls with plenty of tilt and spin. Braylon Doughty strikes out the side in his professional inning. Had to overcome a single, two fielding miscues and a wild pitch to get there. But showed poise to rebound and fan the next three hitters. 93-95 with a big, tight hook. Impressive.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/Pl42msD9r1 — Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) April 4, 2025 2024 20th-rounder RHP Cam Walty made his pro debut on April 5 and was pulled after 1 1/3 innings due to an injury. 2024 pick RHP Connor Whittaker came in behind him and threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Fellow 2025 pick, RHP Sean Matson also threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings with three strikeouts for a save. The young Hillcats offense got off to a tough start over the weekend. OF Christoper Espinola provided a double, RBI, two walks and a steal. 2022 10th round pick, RHP Jacob Zibin, missed two years due to multiple arm surgeries and made his pro debut on April 6. The Hillcats come home to host the Kannapolis Cannonballers (White Sox) starting April 8. ...read more read less